David Accam makes MLS debut

Ghana international attacker David Accam finally made his debut for new club side Chicago Fire in their Major League Soccer fixture away to San Jose Earthquakes.

Accam was brought on at half-time to replace left-sider Joevin Jones, but was unable to help his new club avoid defeat in front of 18,000 at the Avaya Stadium.

The game was settled after three goals inside the first half an hour.

It was always going to be an uphill struggle after the home side scored two inside the first 21 minutes.

Fatai Alashe opened the scoring after a well-worked corner from Matias Perez Garcia. While the set piece will have pleased Earthquakes boss Dominic Kinnear, it will have infuriated Fire boss Frank Yallop, whose side had plenty of time to clear the danger.

The homeside struck against soon afterwards, when Ty Harden fired in from close range after Men-in-Red keeper Sean Johnson could only parry a shot from United States international Clarence Goodson.

To their credit, Chicago Fire fought back and halved the deficit through Harry Shipp on 29 minutes after a fine assist from Jones.

They brought on David Accam, one of their three designated players, at half-time, and while the Black Star impressed with his movement and pace, he was unable to influence the contest.

Particularly impressive was his dribbling; despite only playing half of the match, Accam completed four successful dribbles according to WhoScored—more than any other player on the pitch.

Along with the Ghanaian, Fire’s two other designated players—Shaun Maloney and Kennedy Igboananike—also feature in the match and Yallop will be hoping that with the three of them in tandem, the Northern club will enjoy a prosperous season. Accam’s debut certainly indicates that he will have a big role to play for his club this term.

Despite being present for the Black Stars during the recent sojourn to Equatorial Guinea, Accam played a peripheral role during the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

He came on as a substitute during the opening defeat to Senegal but wasn’t used again for the rest of the tournament as the likes of Kwesi Appiah and Frank Aceampong were preferred as offensive options.

The former Helsingborgs man has not been named in Avram Grant’s squad for Ghana’s friendly internationals against Senegal and Mali later this week.